Customer Reviews

Mig Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko

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The unfortunate thing about this book is that the title will probably attract the wrong audience, and scare away the right audience. This isnt a book about fighter pilots, fighter piloting, or even flying. It is a book about a political and social system gone very wrong. It is a book about weighing ones loyalties against ones happiness and well being. It is a book about fearing inaction more than action. It is a book that made me say aloud to many people since I read it, "Ill never again complain about life in the USA."

This true story is presented in a framed narrative, beginning with Victor's famous defection flight to Japan in a Soviet Mig-25, then flashing back to his life in the Soviet Union of the 1960s and 1970s, then finishing the suspenseful defection/landing sequence, then moving on to Belenko's bittersweet life in the USA.

Avoiding too much talk about fighter piloting, author John Barron wisely veers away from turning this account into a fighter-jock's debrief manual, and instead focuses on the factors that turned Belenko against his motherland. In doing this, he presents a very sobering portrait of life in the Soviet Union  which stands in stark contrast to the life pilot Victor Belenko found in the USA afterwards.

I was impressed by Belenkos voluntary quest to explore the USA alone until he found proof that it couldnt possibly be this good here. He never found proof. Even after having a cab driver in San Francisco drop him off in the worst part of town, Belenko found satisfaction in a $1.50 meal. It is tidbits like that which speak volumes about what kind of a life this man had in the Soviet Union, and why it led him to risk flying about 500 miles in a fighter jet with a 560 mile range (he started with 14 tons of fuel and landed with 52 gallons  enough for about 30 seconds of powered flight).

If youre a aviation and/or warbird enthusiast, youll enjoy the "de-mythification" of the fabled and hugely over-rated Mig-25. Youll delight in hearing Belenko talk about why the Mig-25 posed no threat to the USAs awesome SR-71 supersonic recon jet. And youll grin when he expressed disbelief that a 747 jumbo jet required only a 3 person crew, or amazement that a US Navy aircraft carrier could launch and land so many jets so flawlessly and fast.

But hopefully, youll also want to re-read the parts where Barron describes Belenkos boyhood quest for more meat in his diet, or how when the CIA first took Belenko to an American suburban grocery store Belenko thought it was all a put-on for his benefit, finding it difficult to believe our country was this well supplied.

I keep the book in my aviation book collection, but it wouldnt be out of place next to more socially conscious books. Indeed, Im sometimes inclined to put it on the same shelf as my Farley Mowat books!

I couldn't have been more than 12 when I first read Mig Pilot. This is the original Hunt for Red October. But this one's real. Belenko goes into great detail about the Soviet system and how it continually failed him after promising the stars.

From the hard times he faced as a youth, to his rise into the ranks of a fighter pilot and ultimately to his defection with Russia's most prized fighter, Belenko douses the reader with his experience.

He depicts a Soviet Union that is riddled with poverty and run by a government that promises a turn around fueled by the wonders of the communist system. Belenko has the vision to see that nothing is changing and works his way into the ranks of the military in which he is told that pilots live like kings. His hard work does pay off when he finds the means to leave the country that has done him wrong.

He takes the pride of the Soviet Air Force, the Mig 25, and makes a break for the freedom and promise of the United States. Only a small portion of the book deals with the actual escape of Sgt. Belenko. The bulk of the book is the story behind the man and how life in his country compelled him to leave as well as the differences he experienced between the two dominant cold-war powers.

If Mig-Pilot can be found, it should be bought. It's a nice little piece of the past that caused quite a stir with the Russian military and shattered a lot of fears about the new Soviet "superfighter"

I read this book back in 1984 as a teenager and the story of this pilot blew me away. I got a good look at life inside "the Evil Empire" as well as an outsider's impressions of America and all it has to offer. Until reading Mig Pilot, I did not have a real appreciation for the country I was lucky enough to be born in or the freedoms we often take for granted. This book is a fascinating read with a real-life hero who had the guts to fly into the unknown in search of the truth. You don't have to be a flag-waving, my-country-right-or-wrong nut to enjoy this story. Anyone wanting to realize what it means to live in a free country would get a lot out of this book. I recommend it highly.

It's a shame that this book is out of print. I've read and re-read this over a dozen times in paperback, and it still rings true to me today as it did 15 years ago when I first read it. It's a great analysis of the distinction between two systems, and the quest for a higher meaning in life that transcends mere ideological distinctions. I only wonder how the subject of this book, Mr. Belenko, is now doing in post-Cold War America.

It was incredible seeing Lt. Belenko's comparisons between the life in Soviet Russia and the USA. It made me laugh many times to see his disbelief at what we consider so normal in our way of life. If you know of anyone who takes our freedom's for granted, this would be an excellent book to read.

I was flying a US Navy jet in Japan the day that Victor Belenko defected in his MiG-25 Foxbat. The entire Japanese Defense Force was caught unaware until he landed. Afterward the Japanese military and the country's air traffic control system went into panic mode which made the day even more memorable for me.

A year or so later, now back in the States, I was summoned to a very hush-hush, Top Secret briefing along with a small, select group of other Navy jet pilots. We were not told ahead of time what the meeting was about. To our pleasant surprise, in walked Victor Belenko accompanied by his CIA case officer. Victor proceeded, in very good English, to share many of the stories in this book and more (this was before MIG Pilot was published). The purpose of the meeting was to share tactics, strategy, preparedness, training and Soviet Air Force technology information with US Navy fighter pilots. It was some of the most insightful and helpful training on the topics I had ever received. Fortunately for the reader of this entertaining and real-life story, only some of the more militarily significant (at the time) secret or confidential information may have been intentionally omitted from the book.

By a later coincidence, I can only attribute one of those six degrees of separation realities, the CIA officer who accompanied Victor that day was to become my father-in-law in 1996. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to swap cold war stories with my father-in-law because he had passed away a number of years before I met and married his daughter. When my mother-in-law also passed away in 1997, I found a well worn copy of MiG Pilot in her book shelf when going through her belongings. Tucked inside the book was a birth announcement from Victor's American wife. The personal note addressed to my mother-in-law read: "Dear Anne, We wanted to share the news of the birth of our son. We named our son in honor of your husband whose friendship meant so much to Victor." The leaf of the book had been previously autographed by Victor with his own personal note to my father-in-law. My wife and I will always treasure this book and its very touching handwritten notes.

If you can acquire your own copy of this book it will be a fun, informative, anecdote-filled read about one of the more significant events of the Cold War.

This book is just like reading "1984" or "Animal Farm." It was an emotional experience to read Belenko's story. I think that it should be required reading (required??. . . Mr. Komrad) for all High School kids. It gives you a greater appreciation for what we have . . . as flawed as it is. Belenko is a hero. I felt that the book was well-written, and conveyed Belenko's sense of frustration, very well.

This autobiography by Soviet MIG pilot Victor Belenko is an opener!! It was real! Cold War conduct was incredible as military secrets leaked between the two superpowers - Russia and the USA.

Check out how the Soviets responded towards a solution about the USA's airspace intrusions with USA's SR-71 Blackbird.

MIG 25 Codename: Foxbat. The Russian Mach 3 interceptor, was amazing!!

The story of Victor Belenko, the Russian pilot who defected to the west at the controls of a MiG-25 had fascinated me for years, but this story seems unable to do credit to the ex-Russian flier, his powerful airplane or the challenges that both faced in making the break to Japan.

Before 1975, the MiG-25 was rumored to be a super-plane, not only capable of super-speeds, but also extremely agile. it's engines, weapons and sensors were rumored to match - if not surpass - anything in the west. America's stable of fighter jets, battle proven in the mideast - were originally built with this MiG in mind. Belenko's defection, giving the west its first look at the plane, shattered all illusions. The MiG's high-tech sensors worked on vacuum tubes; its weapons were bulky and balky; and its ominously engines - thought to be adavcned turbofans - were just very large turbojets. Even the rumored speed limit of Mach-3 had to be taken with a grain of salt, with such dashes severely reducing the longetivity of the airplane, and utterly destroying the engines.

Bad planes can make good reading - one of my favorite books is "The World's Worst Airplanes" - but Barron doesn't give the MiG its due. Once he exposes the MiG for what it is, he balances - vacuum tubes aren't entirely obsolescent, and turbofans wouldn't have worked at high mach speeds anyway - but never gives the reader the impression of what it's like to fly or even sit one of those monsters. The MiG is one of the largest fighters in the world, certainly a challenge for its pilots, but Barron never makes his MiG any more real than the one that scared the military into developing new planes and missiles against it. Once Barron gets the MiG into Japan, he gives it the same treatment the CIA did - a good but brief look before being crated for home.

But "MiG Pilot" is also the story of Belenko, child of a hard life in a none-to-pleasant Soviet corner. The Soviets remain an engima to Barron. This book doesn't hide its contempt for the Soviets (Barron also wrote about the Walker Family Spy ring), but the author's antipathy is masked. He doesn't try to hide the monumental deprivations ordinary Russians face as much as he hides their realization of it. Much of Barron's Russia reminded me of the scenes of medeival Russia in "Peter Nevsky", and it's hard to beleive that a nation of such remote expanses could have produced a machine like the MiG-25 in either its imagined or actual forms. Belenko's development as a pilot, then a fighter pilot and finally ascending to the MiG-25 itself, as well as a similar evolution for the MiG-25, are not to be found here, and its a grievous ommission.

Once Belenko is in America, the impact of leaders' oppressions results in an enormous culture shock, as if no borders contain the reach of the police state. He is overwhelmed by the degree of diversity in America, political, ethnic and social. It's hard to believe that Russia was as entirely homogenous as Belenko's experience in America would suggest. Even if it's true, this part of the book is also the weakest, sounding less like a technothriller than an episode of "What a Country." A fuller, though not perfect perspective on Soviet oppressions and the makings of a Red Air Force pilot can be found in "Fulcrum", the story of Akex Zuyev who defected to the west in 1989 under circumstances not unlike those of Belenko.

I read this book about ten years ago. It is a MUST READ for every American citizen! The story details the thoughts and emotions of a Russian fighter pilot looking for a better life in America. Back in 1975, this Russian fighter pilot was engaged in routine flying exercises. Contemplating a better life for himself and his family, he decided to defect and veered towards Japan. His plan was to land in Japan and request political asylum in the United States. One would think that a Russian fighter pilot would be eligible to various privileges by both his government and society, not so in this case. Lieutenant Belenko provides the reader with a first-hand look of life in communist Russia as compared to life here in America. His opinions formed of American life as he observed it would make any person residing on American soil thankful for just being here. His experiences with both shopping malls and grocery stores are quite enlightening. Lieutenant Belenko realizes everything the Russian communists taught him about life in America was false. In one of his conclusions regarding America's greatness, he reasons that America's greatness is attributed to the fact that a majority of the American population believes in a higher source.